A few years ago, the editors of Guitar World magazine compiled what we feel is the ultimate guide to the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time.

The list, which has been quoted by countless artists, websites and publications around the world, starts with Richie Sambora's work on Bon Jovi's “Wanted Dead or Alive” (Number 100) and builds to a truly epic finish with Jimmy Page's solo on "Stairway to Heaven" (Number 1).

We've kicked off a summer blockbuster of our own — a no-holds-barred six-string shootout. We're pitting Guitar World's top 64 guitar solos against each other in an NCAA-style, 64-team single-elimination tournament. Every day, we will ask you to cast your vote in a different guitar-solo matchup as dictated by the 64-team-style bracket, which you can find in the photo gallery below.

Note that you can vote only once per matchup. The voting for each matchup ends as soon as the next matchup is posted (Basically, that's one poll per day during the first round of elimination, including weekends and holidays).

In some cases, genre will clash against genre; a thrash solo might compete against a Southern rock solo, for instance. But let's get real: They're all guitar solos, played on guitars, by guitarists, most of them in some subset of the umbrella genre of rock. When choosing, it might have to come down to, "Which solo is more original and creative? Which is more iconic? or Which one kicks a larger, more impressive assemblage of asses?"

Today's matchup pits Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" (32) against B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone" (33). Get busy! You'll find the poll at the bottom of the story.

Contrary to popular belief, Hendrix was not in any kind of artistic decline during the last year of his life. In fact, it was quite the opposite. This apocalyptic performance of “Machine Gun,” featuring Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, demonstrates that Jimi was still growing in leaps and bounds near the end. But while Band of Gypsys captures some of the guitarist’s greatest improvisations to date, he was still dissatisfied with its outcome.

“I distinctly remember that Jimi wasn’t particularly thrilled with Band of Gypsys,” says engineer Eddie Kramer, who recorded the album and co-mixed and edited it with Hendrix. “He felt that Buddy Miles was trying to steal his thunder throughout the performance with his excessive scat singing. I can still see Jimi with his head buried in his arms, laying on the mixing console during playback, saying, ‘Buddy, would you please just shut up!?’ So, I would chop out huge passages of Buddy singing. And then I’d chop some more.”

“I carried this song around in my head for seven or eight years,” B.B. King recalls about “The Thrill Is Gone,” which had been an r&b hit for its author, pianist Roy Hawkins, in 1950. “It was a different kind of blues ballad. I’d been arranging it in my head and had even tried a couple of different versions that didn’t work.

"But when I walked in to record on this night at the Hit Factory in New York, all the ideas came together. I changed the tune around to fit my style, and [producer] Bill Szymczyk set up the sound nice and mellow. We got through around 3 A.M. I was thrilled, but Bill wasn’t, so I just went home. Two hours later, Bill called and woke me up and said, ‘I think “The Thrill Is Gone” is a smash hit, and it would be even more of a hit if I added on strings. What do you think?’ I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”

Much as I like BB King, he's never been acclaimed for reinventing the way guitar is played. His beautiful minimalist solo is no match for the fireworks and genre-bending fretwork of Jimi Hendrix in this contest.

Here’s a comparison of Blues verses a guy who invented feedback distortion showmanship everything that is more influential to this day and is still mirrored. So what do you need to be creative? You learn the blues. With guitarist today you learn the roots and you progress to your favorite stuff. Next the instincts take over and study who ripped off the invention of the blues from techniques to sweeps. There you’re the next best thing since popcorn.

With the advent of history, other players with others and other players with players there is a fine line of judgment. For the one who enjoys a casual day of guitar playing to one that is insane. These are your peers. For the ones being creative those are your critics.

Much better this time GW. You have seeds and brackets posted for all to see. You also have a definitive list that was ALREADY chosen by a team of experts. Nicely done. There will still be naysayers, but I like this poll.

Hey Joe was the first guitar solo I learned to play followed by the solo in Bold as Love. However, Machine Gun is the coolest solo I have heard from Hendrix. It is right up there with the solo in All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Chile (Slight Return.)

Another ludicrous comparison from Guitar World! That's like comparing Rembrandt to Picasso. Yes, it's the same instrument/medium, but beyond that it's apples and oranges.

As far as Jimi's rumored decline goes, the next night they had another show scheduled at another venue and Hendrix was too wasted to be able to play. There's a Behind the Music (VH1C, if memory serves) about "Band of Gypsys" and Buddy Miles gets quite emotional about the whole event. BOG was recorded New Years Eve '69, and by September Hendrix was dead.

He was clearly headed towards the end. He was being worked to death by his management, who screwed him out of all of his earnings. He wanted to explore some other musical directions but they wouldn't let him. He may not have consciously committed suicide, but I'm convinced he was tired of living and would have ended his life one way or another by the end of 1970 . . .

The sound quality in the Hendrix you tube clip is terrible. The You Tube clip is the problem. The actual recording of that performance sounds great- you can download it on itunes or elsewhere. It was improperly ripped for the video clip.

It's nearly impossible to choose between those solos. It's my favorite BB King recording ( the feel and restraint in those solos is amazing) and Hendrix 's performance is unbelievable.

hey, reverb: i just swapped out the hendrix video with a better one. my main concern is making sure it's the version from the 'band of gypsys' album, which is the one mentioned in the original GW story about the 100 best solos. thanks for the comment! it has led to better sound quality!

ipsofacto: i generally/totally DO agree that live performances should be omitted from the poll. there are, however, (at least) two exceptions: 1. the original GW story about the 100 greatest guitar solos actually refers to this version from this particular live album, which means this is actually the version chosen by the editors. 2. when searching for videos to use in these polls, at some point i won't be able to find studio versions for certain songs; in that case, I'll have to use live versions. For instance, song number 64 is a Prince tune, "little red corvette." while the original video IS on YouTube, they've removed the freakin' audio -- which sort of presents a problem. Anyway, thanks for writing! -- df

Do you think we are going to get a repeat of the "Greatest Guitarists" poll. If you remember some douche posted this poll on a Queen fan site. A lot of Brian May votes came from those postings. I mean really! Brian May better than Hendrix. If this happens with this poll, I will never take part in any GW poll again. This poll is supposed to be amongst guitar players. People please keep it that way. Don't go posting this poll at any fan sites.